Man suspected in two highly publicized rape cases released to house arrest

The suspect in two highly publicized rape cases was released to house arrest on Thursday after the Tel Aviv District Court overturned a ruling from a lower court that would have kept him in police custody for another five days.

The suspect, whose name has been barred by courts from publication, allegedly raped Shaylee Atary, a filmmaker, singer, and survivor of the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre, in 2011, and Naama Shahar in October 2022.

According to the Ynet news site, a police representative told the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court that there were indications the suspect has raped other victims.

The representative said that in a joint questioning of Shahar and the suspect on Wednesday, both sides stuck to their versions of events but the interrogation further strengthened suspicions against the man.

Shahar has accused the suspect of raping her at his home after spending time in a bar, and believes that she was drugged.

“The complainant said that she had never experienced such a feeling after drinking alcohol and therefore understood that it was a date rape drug,” the police representative told the court.

The suspect’s lawyer Moshe Weiss argued that the sound of demonstrators who turned up to support Shahar had “interrupted” the interrogation and asked to release the suspect from custody.

The suspect arrived in Israel earlier this week from overseas and was arrested over the suspicions.

His remand had been set to expire on Thursday, before the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court ordered him to remain in custody.

The court also ruled that the suspect would be sent for a psychiatric evaluation, after which it would be decided if his name could be made public.

Hours later, however, the Tel Aviv District Court accepted the suspect’s appeal against the decision to extend his detention and ordered his release to house arrest for 11 days.

Judge Ala Masarwa explained in his decision that he had determined that releasing the suspect to house arrest would not impede the police investigation, making it unnecessary to keep him in detention.

In addition to putting the suspect under house arrest, Masarwa ordered him to surrender his passport and make a monetary deposit to prevent him from fleeing the country. He has also been barred from using a telephone or accessing the internet for the duration of the police investigation.

Atary launched a legal battle last year for the lifting of the gag order that was imposed on the name of the suspect when she filed a complaint against him in 2022, over concerns he could be at risk of suicide or self-harm.

Shahar came forward with her accusation last month in a post on social media.

Atary told a Knesset hearing in January about the inadequate state response to the violent sexual assault that she experienced.

“In April 2011, I was violently raped on the asphalt of a residential parking lot beneath my apartment in Tel Aviv,” said Atary.

After she went to the police, providing evidence of her injuries, “the police were negligent, and the prosecution closed the case for lack of evidence,” she said.

Police reopened Atary’s case in 2025 after additional evidence came to light.

Atary survived the Hamas-led massacre at her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7, 2023. Her husband, Yahav Winner, was killed protecting her and their newborn baby, Shaya, enabling them to flee. They were rescued after hiding for more than 24 hours.

Ariela Karmel contributed to this report.